Sociology

In the book Racial Formation in the
United States From 1960s to the 1980s written by Michael Omi and Howard
Winant, the tandem states that race has been and will always be the at the
center of American experience (6). The duo even went further to discuss in
this book that challenging both the mainstream (ethnicity oriented) and
radical (class-oriented) analyses, they argue that race has been
systematically overlooked (p.138) as one of the most important aspects in
comprehending and understanding the nature of American politics and society as
a whole. In this book, they set to task a construction of an analytic
framework with which to use to view in proper perspective the racial politics
in the last three decades in America.

The book Racial Formation in the United
States From 1960s to the 1980s is organized in three parts. The part one of
the book is a survey of the three perspectives on American race relations.
These perspectives are ethnicity-based theory, class-based theory and nation-
based theory. The tandem of Omi and Winant provided arguments for each
sociological theory.

In the ethnicity-based theory, the duo criticized this
viewpoint for its tendency to subsume race under the aspect of the general
rubric ethnicity and thus giving a perception that overlook the unique
experiences the minorities, like black, Native Americans and Asians,  living
in America. On the other hand, class-based theory is similarly criticized for
overlooking the power inherent in race in the aspects of social, political and
economics because of its too much focus on economic interests, processes, and
cleavages. And finally, on the nation-based theory is being challenged by Omi
and Winant for its inappropriate for analyzing the structure of race relations
in American using the geography and history.

If the tandem would be asked what
is needed to understand the full context of the race relationship in America,
the duo suggested an analysis according to racial formation perspective.

According to Omi and Winant, this perspective can deal with race as an an
autonomous field of social conflict, political organization, and
culturalideological meaning (52). Omi and Winant defined then racial formation
as the process by which social, economic and political forces determine the
content and importance of racial catergories, and by which in turn shaped by
racial meaning (62).

As the book progresses, the duo argue for continued
importance of the role of race in American politics, culture and economics.
Yet, they fail to make any specific predictions as to the importance of race
in terms of the future of American politics and society as a whole.

What can be
said about the book is not only about the lacking in any specific predictions
made by the two regarding the role of race in American experience, it can also
be noted that the conclusion written by the two is accompanied by a lack of
rigor that is observable throughout the book.

The authors present their ideas
and assertions in an engaging manner, there is no doubt about that, but these
ideas and assertions were not backed up by any detailed analysis.  For example
the two state that race has been a key determinant of mass movements, state
policy, and even foreign policy in the United States (p.138) but rather than
giving a detailed explanation and analysis as to why is this so, the authors
only can provide occasional example to support these assertions. Another sign
of lack of rigor in the authors assertions is when they state that one of the
things we notice about people is their race (62). This assertion is no longer
a secret to treat is as something of a new idea but rather a self-evident
truth.